But wanting to do something is not enough. Writing a novel is a fragile, complex, and uncertain process. When I began to write about the school campus buried beneath a mantle of snow, about adults paralyzed by the young people they had once been, I knew that the time had come. This is how The Reunion came to be set in the south of France. It was an enormous pleasure for me to describe these places as they were and as they are now.

Nevertheless, this is not a true story. The narrator is not the writer—the events that befall Thomas are his alone. Although the chemin de la Suquette, Nice-Matin, the Café Les Arcades, and La Fontonne Hospital exist, they are here transfigured by fiction. The school that Thomas attends, his teachers, his classmates, and his friends are inventions or very different from my own childhood memories. Last, I would like to make it clear that I have never yet walled up a body in a gym.

About the Author

Guillaume Musso is the number-one bestselling author in France. He has written fifteen previous novels, including the thriller Afterwards, which was made into a feature film starring John Malkovich and Evangeline Lilly. He lives in Paris.

Also by Guillaume Musso

The Girl on Paper

Where Would I Be Without You?

Will You Be There?